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NWMT NAPA
SPRING SIZZLER 200
by Polly
Reid |
Chamber
of Commerce type weather helped set the stage for
the 2016 NWMT NAPA Spring Sizzler 200 at Stafford
Motor Speedway where Grand Marshall Doug Dunleavy
gave a hardy ‘Start Your Engines’ to a deep field of
talented drivers and teams. Thirty-two modifieds
rolled off the grid led by Coors Light Pole winner
Doug Coby. There were opportunities and possible
threats for other drivers to take the lead but in
the end, Coby in the Mike Smeriglio III owned,
Dunleavy’s Repair/A&J Romano Construction sponsored
Chevrolet crushed the competition to win the
historic NAPA Spring Sizzler earning the traditional
wreath of flowers and bottle of milk for the third
time in his career.
“The
track had so much rubber on it and this thing just
cut right through it,” said Coby. “We were turning
some of our better laps the last thirty or forty
laps of the race, what an unbelievable car Phil
Moran and these guys give me.”
Todd Szegedy in the 15-40 Connection sponsored car
crossed for second, Rowan Pennink fresh off his SK
modified win earlier in the afternoon put the
Boehler owned, Cape Cod Copper/Canto Paving
Chevrolet on the podium for third with season
opening winner Timmy Solomito fourth and Justin
Bonsignore fifth.
The Sizzler was highlighted with long green runs,
the first caution waving on lap 53. This was the
fuel stop with Coby out of the pits first.
Bonsignore would actually lead one circuit taking
that on the restart before dropping into second by
the first turn.
As the field settled into single file, the next
caution flew on lap 95. Pit row lit up with business
as the field came down for fresh Hoosiers. Electing
not to pit, Ted Christopher and Ryan Preece led the
field to green with Coby and Bonsignore in the next
row. Preece was slipping back on the outside and
Bonsignore was there when the two connected.
Preece’s day was done after making contact with the
wall- Bonsignore would be restart just inside the
top fifteen.
Two more cautions closed up the field, lap 125 and
then the final yellow on lap 172 but it was not
enough for those chasing Coby who was not to be
denied the coveted Sizzler trip to victory lane.
“I’m very lucky to have such good cars here,” said
Coby. “Phil just knows how to get the car to rotate
through the middle and get good bite off. It’s never
easy, there are a lot of things that can happen and
you know how racing works, you get out front,
something happens with a lap car, fuel is probably
going to be really close even though we all took
fuel, nothing is ever easy in this series, that’s
why we’re very appreciative when we can win, win
poles, like I said in victory lane, we take it one
race at a time and try to improve from the last time
we were at the track.”
Todd Szegedy of Ridgefield, CT set his goal for
today, to be on the podium. Finishing second in the
Sizzler one year ago, Szegedy took the green fifth
and went on to equal the previous year effort with a
convincing runner up finish. “I’ve got to thank Rob
Fuller for putting me back in this car,” said
Szegedy. “I really was going to sit out and not race
this year. He told me, you want to go have some fun
and run some races? I thought about it for
a little
bit and thought it was the right decision. The LFR
cars are extremely fast, I knew back when we did the
R&D work two years ago that these cars were going to
be a force to be reckoned with and this is proof
right here. Ryan Stone did a heck of a job, the
whole team, what a heck of a pit stop they had, I’m
very proud of them- the whole situation is great. I
can’t wait to get to the next race and see if we
can’t do this again, but I’d like to win this time.
All in all it was definitely a great day.”
Making it a race by race decision, Szegedy will most
likely be at Thompson in June- stay tuned.
Starting the Sizzler in eighth, Rowan Pennink of
Huntingdon Valley, PA claimed the final position on
the podium bringing the famed Boehler number 3 home
for third.
“I’m proud of these guys on the 3 team,” said
Pennink. “We struggled a little bit in practice,
they did a lot of work to this thing and got it
where it was today for the race. We were able to
drive it to the front- I don’t think we had much for
that 2 team but our car was great- we made big
strides today.”
“Working with the 3 team, it’s a new thing – we
started off with a top ten at Thompson, we ended up
with a top three here so we’re making progress,”
said Pennink. “We’re going to go to Waterford and
keep trying to do more of that.”
“It’s always a good day when you finish in tech on
the Tour,” added Pennink. “For me, it’s been a while
since I’ve been in tech, way too long, I think the
same thing with the 3 team. I think its two good
things coming together here, there might be
something good in the future. It was a great
weekend. You can’t ask for much more than a top
three in the Tour race and a win in the SK race. I’m
pretty happy.”
Shawn Solomito finished sixth, Bobby Santos seventh,
Chase Dowling, Brendon Bock and Max Zachem completed
the top ten.
“This car now has three starts, three poles and
three wins,” said Coby. Victory lane at Loudon,
Stafford Fall Final and now the Sizzler, “the thing
was just stellar all weekend.”
Today’s win for Coby may have been partly due to the
sheer determination of crew chief Phil Moran. “I was
disappointed with myself at Thompson,” admitted
Moran where the 2 car won the pole and ended the day
with a top five finish. “I worked my butt off to
make sure we had a good car for here. I had a lot
going on before Thompson and we just missed. I made
sure this weekend we didn’t miss. The car was good,
Doug knows this place- it makes all the difference
in the world.” On the first stop, it was fuel only
on lap 55, no changes to the car. “Then we went to
lap 95 and the caution there, it was tires. The guys
had an awesome stop.”
Next up on the schedule, Moran will be ready.
“Waterford, I’m looking forward to going back there.
We had a good car there last year, we finished
second. This year, I think we can be a little bit
better there.”
It’s early but the points are out there- Coby heads
to the New London-Waterford Speedbowl on May 14th
with a one point advantage over Timmy Solomito.
Justin Bonsignore is third, only four tallies behind
the leader with Rowan Pennink and Chase Dowling the
top five.
Notes:
The traditional pit party before the start of the
Spring Sizzler was a great time to catch up with a
couple drivers and Max Zachem of Preston, CT in the
Lu-Mac’s Package Store/VWS Chevrolet was one of
them.
“This is my 16th year racing. I started in 2000 when
I was seven at the Little T, my dad was still
working with Charlie (Pasteryak) on the Tour. Now
I’m 23, racing on the Tour. We had a rough start, we
had an issue with a wiring system, we finally got
that figured out- we had limited number of laps for
practice but it went well for what we had and
qualified 15th. We were a little off but we worked
on it and 200 laps is a long time, we’ll make
something happen. Be there at the end, that’s the
big thing. I’ve watched these guys how many years
and know that you never win on lap one, you’ll never
be there at the end. The whole key to that is be
there at the end in order to win.” What would Zachem
consider a successful second year on the Tour? “Be
in the top ten in points, that’s my goal.”
Zachem finished tenth today and yes, it is early,
but Zachem is sitting ninth in points. So far, so
good.
Traveling from North Carolina, shop foreman at
Gnassi Racing, Gary Putnam hailing originally from
nearby Vernon, CT made the trip north for his third
time competing in the Spring Sizzler. “I came up
Thursday night so I could see my grandmother, my
father is here and I got to see my aunt and uncle,
brother in-law, everyone.” Also competing on the
NWSMT in his Curb Records sponsored modified, Putnam
collected a win last year in the KOMA Unwind
Modified Madness Series at Orange County. His
experience draws an interesting comparison. “It’s
different racing up here compared to what we do down
there. The race tracks down there are really worn
out so you kind of take care of your stuff more, or
ride more. This place has really good grip
especially being the first race of the year. The
track had a really easy winter so it seems really ‘grippy’,
I think you’re going to have to run pretty hard.
It’ll be fun.”
Matt Swanson from Action, MA in the Spafco Race
Chassis/Atlantic Sprinkler modified
was the top
finishing rookie at Thompson and today, topped the
rookie field again with an eleventh place finish.
“We started last year at the Spring Sizzler running
an SK light here. The deal was to do a whole season
in the SK Lights. I was running with the same guys I
am now- Ken Barry, his dad Art, my father, all the
guys that are involved with us now. Half way through
the season we lost our motor. This car was already
in the process of being built, we already had a
motor purchased, all the parts and pieces, they just
needed to be put together. When we lost the motor it
was kind of a wakeup call to get this thing done and
we decided to try a couple of Tour races. I’ve
always wanted to see what I could do on the Tour-
we’re improving every week and hopefully we can be
up there with Doug Coby, Ryan and all of them one
day- we’re slowly picking away at it.”
Not too long ago, Eric Goodale in the GAF
Roofing/Supreme Skylights modified used to race on
the Tour competing against his older brother Kevin
who now actually helps Eric out. These days Goodale
runs against his cousin Jeff Goodale and his other
cousins, Timmy and Shawn Solomito. There are four
members of my family in this race, it feels like
every other car that’s out there, I’m racing my
family.”
“We’ve been racing against each other since go
karts, Charger cars and modifieds. We’ve seen each
other on all levels of racing.”
“Even though I didn’t have the run I wanted at
Thompson,” said Goodale, “I got to see Timmy get his
first Tour win- even though he is a competitor; it
felt good to see that. He works hard and he’s an
awesome kid, I was really happy for him.”
“You know, that means I’ve got to step up my game up
now, I can’t be losing to family members out there,”
Goodale laughing and flashing a smile added, “It
bothers me more to lose to them than to the others
out there.”
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Source:
Polly Reid / TheChromeHorn.com
Posted:
April 25, 2016 |
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